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Coronation Street's Tracy Barlow lends glamour to anti-fur campaign

LONDON - Kate Ford, the actress who plays Coronation Street's bitch from hell Tracy Barlow, is to feature in an anti-fur ad for controversial animal rights charity Peta.

Ford's image in the ad echoes her glamourous, super-bitchy character in the hit Granada soap. Wearing a red satin evening dress and gloves, she is pictured protectively holding a white rabbit. The copy reads: "Try telling him it's just a bit of fur trim."

The rest of the ad urges readers to boycott all fur and includes the address for Peta's FurIsDead site.

"I play a pretty cold-hearted character in 'Coronation Street', but I can't think of anything more cruel or cold-hearted than killing animals for their fur," Ford said.

The actress has previously campaigned on behalf of farm animal welfare organisation, Compassion in World Farming, to improve conditions for animals being transported across Europe.

The new press ad is less shocking than Peta's 2002 ad featuring pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor holding a skinned fox carcass, with the strapline "Here's the rest of your fur coat."

The charity has targeted celebrities for wearing fur, including supermodel Cindy Crawford and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, and is currently concentrating on singer and actress Jennifer Lopez.

Last month, it tried to place an ad in US music title Billboard, showing a skinned rabbit and criticising Lopez for using fur in her Sweetface fashion collection, but it was reportedly pulled after intervention by the star's people.

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